How Becoming a Mom Started With a Batch of Cookies
Published in 2018
I’ve officially been a mom for 15 years.
Ethan turned 15. He’s the only child I’ve given birth to.
But the spark to becoming a mom was lit about 3 years before Ethan was born.
God brought me and Kent together which also included his son Ben, a soon to be 10 year old at the time.
Ben had a summer birthday. Where he went to school, they celebrated summer birthdays at the end of the school year.
I remember being out in our alley before school was out that first year we were together, and Kent told me Ben had something to ask me. Ben asked me to make chocolate chip cookies so he could take them to school for his birthday.
Of course I said I would. It filled my heart that he would ask.
When Kent and I first got married, we weren’t exactly sure we would have any children.
How becoming a mom started with the request for a batch of chocolate chip cookies. #boymom #motherhood Click To Tweet
Growing up I had wanted children, but too many issues during my first marriage never even got us to the point to consider having children. By the time I met Kent, he already had a 10 year old son (and Kent is nearly 14 years older than me…..something I like to remind him of quite often!), so we weren’t sure that having a child would be in our plan.
But being around Ben grew my heart for a child of my own.
I loved Ben (of course I still do!). I tell people that the only reason I make sure they know he is my stepson is that I want them to know I’m not old enough to be the mother of a soon-to-be twenty-eight-year-old. 😉
Anyhow, we decided to allow God (and nature) determine if we were to grow our family. Not long after I was pregnant with Ethan.
I turned 30 during those 9 months, and I felt like I was finally an adult!
So now I have a 15 year old.
I’ve biologically been a mom for 15 years but I like to think that it was that batch of cookies that made me a mom some 17 or so years ago.
Last year when Ethan turned 14 I shared 14 things I’d learned since becoming a mom. I still believe the most important thing I’ve learned is more about Christ’s love for me as well as how important it is that our children know His love for them. (You can go back and read the complete list.) This year I’ll add one:
Becoming a mom doesn’t require you to give birth to a child.
I am grateful for the privilege of carrying a child and giving birth to a baby. Celebrating Ethan’s birthday always takes me back to my pregnancy and the evening I went into labor and the day I spent waiting for his arrival. There is nothing like that experience and that bond that you have with your newborn.
Pondering #motherhood as my son turns 15. #momofboys #boymom #momlife Click To Tweet
I love Ethan dearly and I am so proud of the godly young man he is becoming.
For various reasons not all women have a child. Some of their own choosing, for others that’s not the case.
No matter your situation, you are a special woman in a special young person’s life.
One of the definitions of mother, according to dictionary.com is “tend”. And when I looked into that word I found one meaning “minister to”.
Let’s look at this role as mother, biological or otherwise, as an opportunity to minister to those, or that one, entrusted to our care.
Who needs your tending to?
Note: This post went a totally different direction than I first planned it out. I pray that you, sweet friend, find encouragement here today. Feel free to email me with your becoming a mom story at marsha@marshaapsley.com
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19
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